Houston, August 6
Discovery departed from the International Space Station today and glided off on its own in the first step toward the shuttle’s risky return to Earth.

This image released by NASA shows astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, anchored to a foot restraint on the International Space Station Canadarm 2, participating in the mission's third session of extravehicular activity (EVA) on Thursday. The blackness of space and Earth's horizon form the backdrop for the image. — AP/PTI
photo

Pak sees ‘Indian violations’ in Baglihar
Islamabad, August 6
Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, who recently led a team to Baglihar hydro-power project site in Jammu and Kashmir, has submitted his report to the government, alleging that the Indian project violated the 1960 water pact between the two nations.

Iran’s no to EU offer
Tehran, August 6
Iran today rejected the European Union’s (EU) offer of incentives in return for a suspension of its nuclear fuel work, paving the way for a confrontation that could lead to UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Typhoon displaces millions in China
Beijing, August 6
Typhoon Matsa, which slammed east the China region, including its largest city Shanghai, since early this morning, has wrecked havoc killing one person and injuring two besides displacing over 1.24 million people, latest reports said.

Sobhraj to take his case to UN
Kathmandu, August 6
International serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who has been sentenced to life by a Nepali court, has decided to bring the matter to the notice of the United Nations Committee for Human Rights.

‘Da Vinci Code’ author wins suit
New York, August 6
Best-selling author Dan Brown has won a court ruling against another writer who claimed Brown’s book “The Da Vinci Code” copied elements from two of his books, Brown’s publisher, Random House, said.

Robin Cook dead

London, August 6
Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who was admitted to a hospital in serious condition after collapsing on a mountain in Scotland, died today at the age of 59. Cook served as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001 and maintained a high public profile as a fierce critic of Tony Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq.
— PTI

19 die in plane crash

Rome, August 6
A Tunisian passenger plane crash-landed into the Mediterranean Sea today off the Sicilian coast on a flight from Bari, Italy, to Djerba, killing 19 persons, an official said. Twenty persons survived, he said.
— AP

Houston, August 6
Discovery departed from the International Space Station today and glided off on its own in the first step toward the shuttle’s risky return to Earth.

With pilot Jim Kelly at the controls, the spacecraft unlatched from the docking port, then eased away from the station that it joined in space on July 28.

Kelly looped Discovery once around the station while his crew mates snapped photographs of the station’s exterior for inspection later by NASA engineers.

Then he fired the shuttle jets to send Discovery on its way. It was separating from the station at 9 miles (14 km) per orbit, or about every 90 minutes.

Discovery is making the first shuttle flight since Columbia broke apart while returning to Earth on February 1, 2003. It is scheduled to land in Florida on Monday.

Officials at the US space agency were to meet today to look at weather forecasts. If conditions are not optimal, Discovery’s return could be delayed.

Night-shift workers at Johnson Space Center in Houston went outside to watch the shuttle and space station, still only about 10 miles apart, sail overhead early today.

They looked like two stars, the larger space station brighter than the shuttle, cruising in tandem at 17,500 miles per hour 220 miles above the Earth.

Later today, the Discovery crew was to check out the shuttle’s steering rockets and start stowing gear in preparation for their return.

While at the station, Discovery astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson conducted three spacewalks, which were mostly devoted to maintenance work on the station and installing a storage platform on its exterior.

The third walk included an unprecedented repair by Robinson on the shuttle’s belly as he plucked out two cloth strips protruding from the heat shield. — Reuters

London, August 6
Three more persons have been charged under Britain’s anti-terror laws with having failed to disclose information that could have helped in apprehending a suspect behind the botched bomb attacks on London’s transport system.

The men had been arrested in Brighton, Sussex, last weekend by the police probing July 21’s failed bombings.

Shadi Sami Abdel Gadir, (22), Omar Nagmeloin Almagboul, 20, of Brighton, and Mohamed Kabashi, 23, of no fixed abode, are due to be produced before Bow Street Magistrates’ Court here.

The three men, who were arrested with four other persons on July 31, have been charged under Section 38 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

They are accused of “having information” that they “knew or believed might be of material assistance” to the police “in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of another person in the UK for an offence involving the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.”

They are accused of failing to disclose that information “as soon as reasonably practicable to a constable” between July 21 and July 31.

Yesterday, two relatives of suspected Tube train bomber Osman Hussain were remanded in custody on the same charge.

Yeshiemebet Girma, 29, and Mulumebet Girma, 21, are alleged to have withheld details about the suspected failed Shepherd’s Bush attacker Hussain Osman, who is currently under arrest in Rome.

Bow Street Magistrate’s Court was told that Yeshiemebet was the wife of Osman, also known as Hamdi Issac.

Both women spoke only to confirm their names, ages and addresses at a short hearing and did not enter formal pleas.

The counsel acting on their behalf indicated, however, that both would plead not guilty to charges under Section 38 of the Terrorism Act, 2000.

Yeshiemebet of Blair House, Stockwell Gardens, Stockwell, south-west London and Mulumebet of Corse House, Dorset Road, Stockwell, were remanded in custody until further hearing on August 11.
— PTI

Islamabad, August 6
Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, who recently led a team to Baglihar hydro-power project site in Jammu and Kashmir, has submitted his report to the government, alleging that the Indian project violated the 1960 water pact between the two nations.

The report highlighted alleged “Indian violations” of the Indus Water Treaty in the project’s design, the ‘Daily Times’ reported here today. Shah, however, refused to disclose the report’s major features, the paper added.

Shah headed a five-member Pakistani delegation to inspect the project site from July 23 to July 30.

The report, given to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, would also be submitted to Professor Raymond Lafitte, the neutral expert appointed by World Bank on the matter, the paper said.

“After Pakistan submits its case to the neutral expert, India will submit a counter case so that the neutral expert can deliberate without bias,” a Pakistani official said.
— PTI

Islamabad, August 6
An Islamist militant, suspected of bringing murdered US reporter Daniel Pearl to his kidnappers, has confessed he was working for two key Al-

Qaida-linked operatives, the police said today.

Mohammad Hashim Qadir was arrested last month in Gujranwala in the central province of Punjab. Security sources believe he set up a meeting between Pearl and militants who later kidnapped and killed him.

“He has confessed to his role in the Pearl case and to some robberies,” Gujranwala police chief Zafar Abbas said.

Abbas did not say what part Qadir, also known as Arif, played in the Wall Street Journal reporter’s abduction and murder, but said he had admitted taking instructions from two militants who played key roles in the plot.

“He confessed he was receiving orders from Omar Sheikh and Amjad Farooqi.”

British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, commonly known as Omar

Sheikh, was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding the murder, but is still in jail awaiting an appeal hearing. Amjad Hussain Farooqi was named as a conspirator in the Pearl case.
— Reuters

Tehran, August 6
Iran today rejected the European Union’s (EU) offer of incentives in return for a suspension of its nuclear fuel work, paving the way for a confrontation that could lead to UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The EU said its proposals aimed to allow Iran access to nuclear technology, but block work that could help make an atomic bomb. If Tehran resumed nuclear work, the EU said it would back US calls to refer Iran to the UN for sanctions.

Washington accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, but Tehran denies the charge and says its right to convert and enrich uranium for nuclear power stations is recognised by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

New Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not specifically mention the nuclear issue as he was sworn in today, but said: “We are logical and respect international rules, but will not give in to those who want to violate our rights ... The Iranian nation cannot be intimidated.’’
— Reuters

Beijing, August 6
Typhoon Matsa, which slammed east the China region, including its largest city Shanghai, since early this morning, has wrecked havoc killing one person and injuring two besides displacing over 1.24 million people, latest reports said.

Over 1.24 million people were evacuated to safety yesterday in East China’s Zhejiang province ahead of the typhoon’s landing.

In Shanghai, all the flights have been suspended due to strong winds and airports in the city said they would monitor the movement of Matsa closely to make further decisions.

A work shed collapsed in the rainstorms, leaving one worker dead and two injured at a construction site in Shanghai. Nearly 50,000 people living in low-lying areas in the city were evacuated, media reports said.

Matsa, named after a Laotian fish, has been dumping torrential rain, swelling rivers and flooding the low-lying areas in east China’s Zhejiang province, the provincial meteorological observatory said.
— PTI

Kathmandu, August 6
International serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who has been sentenced to life by a Nepali court, has decided to bring the matter to the notice of the United Nations Committee for Human Rights.

Pointing to violation of natural justice principles, Sobhraj’s French lawyer Isabelle Coutant Peyre said she would inform the top human rights body about the irregularities.

“I am in a state of shock as I just came to know the verdict given by the judges from the Patan Appellate Court, which had kept on postponing for months the appeal procedures concerning my client after his conviction by the Kathmandu District Court last year,” Ms Peyre was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
— UNI

New York, August 6
Best-selling author Dan Brown has won a court ruling against another writer who claimed Brown’s book “The Da Vinci Code” copied elements from two of his books, Brown’s publisher, Random House, said.

Brown avoided $ 150 million in damages author Lewis Perdue had sought that characterised Brown’s blockbuster book as an ‘’intellectual’’ work. Perdue had claimed Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code’’ infringed the copyright of his novels “Daughter of God,’’ which was published in 2000, and “The Da Vinci Legacy,’’ in 1983.
— Reuters